Post Louisville Game Discussion 9.2.2023

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The late missed field goal really hurt us.
I was worried about the linebacker position, but now I'm more concerned about the defensive line.
 
stingmeyall said:
After all these years we still have a glaring weakness "tackling". How many times did we miss tackles in the open field to allow big gains? I thought Faulkner called a terrific first half but did not continue to keep the foot on the accelerator. Our OL was not getting enough control of the LOS to continue to try to run on first and second down to try and bleed the clock, plus it was way too early. With the game on the line with just a little over 3 minutes and getting close to the EZ was a time to be more conservative and to eat clock. Instead, we try to throw and allow a blindside hit on the QB. Of course, our FG kicking is atrocious as usual. Still with all this being said, Key was a great hire.
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we are going to be over .500 this year - last night I saw a lot to build on.
 
There were some positives - QB is a player even if did hold onto the ball too long on key turnover. Have some speed on offense and #13 can play. It's hard to say what we were doing in 3rd quarter on offense but seemed we got very conservative - can't sit on leads in college football unless you have an elite defense. Missed FG's hurt. Defense lost a premier defensive lineman and two good linebackers and it shows. I think injuries hurt defense in 2nd half. Keep playing. Let a good opportunity slip by us.
 
The good:

We upgraded at QB
Promising receiver corps
Punt/kick coverage looks solid


The bad:

We are SMALL at RB
Kicking
The OL
The defense
Potentially both coordinators
 
Akinji07 said:
I’m a big Brent Key fan. But this is his team now, he’s no longer the interim coach. Blowing a 28-7 lead to lose the game is on him. It seemed like we couldn’t counter their line adjustments in the second half unless someone can tell me why we couldn’t run the ball anymore.
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I agree with your sentiment but we were never up 28-7. It was 28-13. Just clarifying that. Giving up a 2 TD lead isnt quite a full blown meltdown. As far as 2nd half I think they loaded the box on us again like in the first to stop the run but also put pressure on King to keep him uncomfortable. If we couldve gotten a few decent passes completed it would force them to loosen back up where we could run.
 
We are a much better coached team now than last year. Hate that we lost this one when it was pretty much in the bag.

I thought the losses of Ace Eley, Charlie Thomas, and Keion White were GLARING. Maybe I was too boozed up but didn’t notice any badasses on the defense.
 
Supersize that order mutt said:
Based on what I saw tonight, Buster Faulkner is no better than Long or P'Nut. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE offensive play calling. And, of course, as has been the case for the last 20 years, we can not tackle. PERIOD.
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Those & PK were why we lost.

Is Faulkner making all the decisions or calling what Key wants to do? I honestly don't know.
 
wesleyd21 said:
We are a much better coached team now than last year. Hate that we lost this one when it was pretty much in the bag.

I thought the losses of Ace Eley, Charlie Thomas, and Keion White were GLARING.
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Good point. I didn't see any really-stupid penalties, as we've had in the 3 years previous.
 
It's always disappointing when you look as good as we did in 2Q then end up losing, but folks need to temper the negativity just a little. We were up 15. Thats not a lot. Definitely not "in the bag." It was a missed opportunity to steal a win, and I'm pissed too but I think we have a lot we can build on. Just hope injuries weren't too serious. We need LaMiles badly. That was evident in the 2nd half.
 
There is a such thing as a moral victory, but this was not it. This was a loss in every sense of the word, and you could see it on the faces of the guys towards the end of the game. We should have won.

That said -- this loss feels different than before. Maybe it's the honeymoon period but we looked like a mostly competent football team out there, and one that I could envision improving enough to have a good season.

Next big measuring stick is Wake. Beat them and we're 3-2 heading into Miami and the four game stretch that will define our season. (Assuming we take care of business against cupcakes.)
 
GoGATech said:
I agree with your sentiment but we were never up 28-7. It was 28-13. Just clarifying that. Giving up a 2 TD lead isnt quite a full blown meltdown. As far as 2nd half I think they loaded the box on us again like in the first to stop the run but also put pressure on King to keep him uncomfortable. If we couldve gotten a few decent passes completed it would force them to loosen back up where we could run.
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This is the answer. They sold out to stop our short game and we (1) don’t have a line that can consistently pass block for us to stretch the field and/or (2) either receivers weren’t getting open downfield or King didn’t see them (I don’t know because the main camera angle was so tight that downfield was out of frame). Our inability to stretch the field was huge in second half.
 
savbandjacket said:
This is the answer. They sold out to stop our short game and we (1) don’t have a line that can consistently pass block for us to stretch the field and/or (2) either receivers weren’t getting open downfield or King didn’t see them (I don’t know because the main camera angle was so tight that downfield was out of frame). Our inability to stretch the field was huge in second half.
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It’s also hard to stretch the field when you run dive, dive on 1st and 2nd down and then the D can pin their ears back on 3rd and 7. Playcalling is partly to blame here. Just a complete lack of adjustment.
 
Surprised to see all the negative sentiment in this thread. Yeah, it was a loss and it hurt to blow that lead, but there were more positives in that game than I’ve seen in a while. Seems like many of you were expecting a 7-9 win season, which I guess explains your disappointment. I wasn’t expecting any more than a 4-5 win season in this rebuilding year, and we were a few bad plays away from a W against a decent L-ville squad on a neutral field, which is far better than expected. It hurt to be so close and get the L, but we’re looking much improved in several aspects. Looking forward to the season ahead for the first time in a while…
 
Just for perspective, any idea how good Louisville’s DL is supposed to be? I know Vegas was decently high in Louisville for this game and the season in general (i think they had the 3rd or 4th best odds to win the ACC), but I don’t know about their lines specifically. Obviously they gave us some fits, but I’ll be curious to see how the OL responds and plays against other competition.

Still a disappointing loss after how we played in the 2nd period. But yeah, I’m not ready to write off the season or anything.
 
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